Kathy Thompson and Julie MilamÕs quilt shop, Creations, is in a Victorian house across the parking lot from the Main House, on Main Street in Kerrville.

Kathy Thompson and Julie MilamÕs quilt shop, Creations, is in a Victorian house across the parking lot from the Main House, on Main Street in Kerrville.

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The Main House, a retreat center for quilters, is on Main Street in Kerrville.

The Main House, a retreat center for quilters, is on Main Street in Kerrville.

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The Main House, a retreat center for quilters, is on Main Street in Kerrville.

The Main House, a retreat center for quilters, is on Main Street in Kerrville.

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The employees of Creations gave owners Julie Milam and Kathy Thompson a mosaic piece ÒArt is the Measure of all ThingsÓ for the retreat center. ItÕs in the hallway outside the lounge.

The employees of Creations gave owners Julie Milam and Kathy Thompson a mosaic piece ÒArt is the Measure of all ThingsÓ for the retreat center. ItÕs in the hallway outside the lounge.

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Vintage wooden spools spill from a basket atop the antique armoire in the Jefferson bedroom.

Vintage wooden spools spill from a basket atop the antique armoire in the Jefferson bedroom.

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Quilts and antique furniture decorate the Jefferson bedroom.

Quilts and antique furniture decorate the Jefferson bedroom.

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A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

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A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

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A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

A stack of antique thread spool chests decorate the lobby; a colorful quilt hangs on the wall outside the studio.

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A candy jar sits atop a table in the lobby.

A candy jar sits atop a table in the lobby.

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The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

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The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

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The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

The colors of Fiesta inspired the dŽcor in the San Antonio bedroom.

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Fabric from the store fills in an old window frame salvaged from a building on the property that had to be torn down when the Main House was built; itÕs part of the colorful decorations used in the San Antonio bedroom. less

Fabric from the store fills in an old window frame salvaged from a building on the property that had to be torn down when the Main House was built; itÕs part of the colorful decorations used in the San ... more

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Spaces: Quiet retreat for ‘quilting gals’ to gather

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KERRVILLE — From their Main Street quilt store, Creations, Kathy Thompson and her sister Julie Milam watched various tenants move in and out of the building across their shared parking lot. For nearly a decade they saw a beauty shop, a radio station, a restaurant and other businesses come and go.
When the run-down building was put up for sale in November of 2008 the sisters decided to buy the property and develop a retreat center for quilters.
“Most of our customers come from out of town. About 90 percent of our business is not local. It’s San Antonio, Austin, Midland — and those gals love to come to Kerrville,” Thompson notes. “But they drive four to five hours to come here, so we always thought it would be nice to have a retreat center where they could come and stay.”
They wanted a place accommodating up to 24 people, one that would feel like a home in spite of all the code requirements for a commercial building.
Designer Linda Coffee, who handled the conversion of a Victorian house into Creations in 2000, was hired for the new project and sent to a quilting retreat so that she would learn “what would make quilting gals happy,” Thompson said.
Planning took about a year as a variety of thoughts made it to paper. Construction took another year. “We didn’t knock it completely down. We left the perimeter and took the top story off,” Coffee said. “It benefited us to use the footprint because the setbacks would have changed had we taken it all out.”
The tile floor in the lobby was done in a quilt pattern. “Set on point,” observes Milam. A stacked trio of antique thread spool chests is arranged in a corner, near a colorful quilt dominating a wall.
To the right is the well-lit studio that takes up a majority of the first floor. Design boards, one for every guest, are mounted on picture rail molding so that they can be easily moved around. Dozens of tables offer lots of working space.
What appears to be a kitchen, on the left side of the building, is called the lounge. “Because kitchen sometimes has an association with work and this is more of an association with relaxation,” Coffee explains. The lounge, also decorated with quilts, can handle up to 30 diners at a time.
Upstairs, the six bedrooms are named after Texas cities, and decorated to match the personality of those locations. The Jefferson is a stately room, with earth tones and antiques. Canton gets the shabby chic treatment and a ’50s vibe. Abilene has a western motif. Dallas has a more upscale, contemporary look. Austin is bright and cheery and the San Antonio décor was inspired by the vivid colors of Fiesta.
Each of the two-dozen beds is topped with a quilt. “We did not make these,” Thompson says. “We needed something that we could throw in the wash machine and dryer. But we did make all the dust ruffles, and the shams and all of that type of stuff, and the decorative pillows that are on them.” The special, treasured handmade quilts that used to be displayed in the store now adorn the bedroom walls.
The retreat center, named The Main House, opened last year and has been hosting fun-filled, educational and productive quilting retreats ever since.
For more information, go to the-main-house.creations-online.com or call 830-315-8088.

Chrissie Murnin is a San Antonio freelancer.

House Rules

Creations owner Kathy Thompson, who has made numerous quilts in her lifetime, says there are a lot of similarities in constructing a quilt and building a house.

Plan: “You have to have a plan for both of them before you get started.”

Adjustments: “You have some corrections that happen to each of them as you’re working along.”

Outcome: “It’s probably never quite the way you thought it was gonna be.”

Got Space?

Know of a beautiful, unique house that would be great for Spaces? Email suggestions for Spaces to Real Estate Editor Emily Spicer, realestate@express-news.net